Aroldis Chapman's Tattoo Ink and the Top 10 Strangest Baseball Injuries
New York Yankees' relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman landed on the 15-day Injured List Saturday due to a leg infection he got from a recent tattoo.
It's one of the strangest injuries an athlete has sustained in recent years. Here's a timeline of some of baseball's weirdest injuries since the turn of the new millennium:
2002 — Baltimore Orioles' Marty Cordova suffers facial burns from plastic surgeon
For the past 20 years, it had been believed that Cordova's facial burns that caused him to miss a game in 2002 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, was a result of Cordova falling asleep in a tanning bed. He recently set the record straight on The Geary Stein and Stevens Show, explaining that the burns were caused by a plastic surgeon in Las Vegas removing ingrown hairs with a laser beam.
2004 — Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa hurts his back from sneezing too hard
Before a game in San Diego in May 2004, Chicago Cubs' outfielder Sammy Sosa sprained a ligament in his lower back and landed on the Disabled List from sneezing. A pair of strong sneezes caused back spasms for the Cubs' right fielder.
2006 — Detroit Tigers' reliever Joel Zumaya can't pitch in the American League Championship Series because he played too much Guitar Hero
Remember the Guitar Hero era? When teenagers were packing basements attempting to recreate Dragonforce's 'Through the Fire and Flames' on fake guitars? The 2000s were such simpler times.
As the Tigers' top reliever, 21-year-old Joel Zumaya logged a 1.94 ERA in 31 appearances during the club's American League pennant season in 2006.
Zumaya was sidelined from the American League Championship Series with a sore wrist, though. In a December 2006 radio interview, Tigers' general manager Dave Dombrowski revealed that Zumaya sustained the injured from playing Guitar Hero on his Playstation 2.
In the credits of the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II, the game's creators left a message that read, 'No pitchers were harmed in the making of this game. Except for one. Joel Zumaya. He had it coming.'
2007 — Cubs' Kerry Wood can't pitch due to slipping while getting out of a hot tub
Cubs' pitcher Kerry Wood was forced to take a few days off from throwing at spring training in February 2007 due to slipping, getting out of an Arizona hot tub. Wood landed on his chest and stomach.
And thus was the luck of Cubs' fans for 108 years.
2010 — Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Kendrys Morales breaks leg celebrating walk-off grand slam
In a May 2010 game against the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim designated hitter Kendrys Morales hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Angels a 5-1 home victory. He was met by his teammates at home plate where he, in celebration, jumped onto home plate — and broke his leg.
The bizarre video of the injury feels more like a beer commercial than a historical event. The injury ended Morales' season.
2010 — Baltimore Orioles' Brian Roberts gives himself a concussion by hitting himself in the head with his bat
Angry after striking out in the ninth inning of an Orioles' loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Orioles' second baseman Brian Roberts hit himself in the helmet with his bat and was then forced to sit for the Orioles' next six games with concussion-like symptoms.
"In frustration [after a strikeout], I whacked myself on the head with my bat in the ninth. I had my helmet on," Roberts said in 2010. "It's something I've done a million times, but I still can't tell you for sure if that was it. But that's the only thing that I can point to because that night and the next morning, I just didn't feel good. So it's been going on since then."
2014 — Matt Cain cuts his finger making a sandwich
San Francisco Giants' starting pitcher Matt Cain was placed on the 15-day Disabled List after cutting his finger, when he dropped a knife while making a sandwich in the team kitchen.
2016 — Trevor Bauer cuts finger repairing a drone during American League Championship Series
Cleveland Indians' starting pitcher Trevor Bauer was slated to start game 2 of the American League Championship Series, but after cutting his finger, repairing a drone, he had to miss game 2 and had his start pushed back to game 3 in Toronto.
Bauer pitched just 0.2 innings, leaving the game with a bloody finger. The Indians still won, besting the Blue Jays in five games, en route to the World Series. Bauer returned to action in the World series.
2020 — Yoenis Céspedes fractures ankle after an encounter with a wild board on his ranch
New York Mets' outfielder Yoenis Céspedes spent a fair amount of time on the DL in his six seasons with the club. In the offseason before his final year with the club, he suffered a mysterious right ankle injury on his ranch. The original rumor was that he fell off his horse, but it was later reported by the New York Post that Céspedes was trying to sidestep a wild board on his ranch, and stepped into a hole, causing the ankle-break.
Céspedes played just eight games in 2020, and has not appeared in a big league game since.
2022 — Aroldis Chapman gets a leg infection from a tattoo gone wrong
Chapman has been placed on the 15-day IL and given how he has pitched recently, some, such as the New York Post's Joel Sherman, speculate that he may not make the Yankees' postseason roster.
